Last weekend, Buffalo nightclub owner Michael R. Militello flew to Los Angeles to visit one of his best friends, O.J. Simpson.
It was a painful experience, seeing a man who was once the king of Buffalo sitting in prison garb in the visiting room of the Los Angeles County Jail.
But Militello said the visit reinforced his belief that Simpson is innocent of charges that he murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
"It hurt me to see O.J. in jail," Militello said last week. "He's very distraught and sad. He's very much under stress, still in shock.
"He's really worried about his friends, what they're thinking. He told me he just hopes everybody will hold out some belief in his innocence until all the evidence comes out. He wants the truth to come out."
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While many area residents and fans feel they know Simpson, Militello really does.
He has kept in close contact with the former Buffalo Bills star since Simpson left the Bills in 1978. Militello has been a house guest several times at the Brentwood, Calif., mansion, where police claim Simpson went after the murders.
Militello and his wife, Marilyn, were also close to Nicole Simpson and her family.
When the Militellos were married near Laguna Beach, Calif., in December 1985, Simpson and Nicole stood up in their wedding party. Five years later, Militello stayed with the Simpsons for more than a month while job-hunting in the Los Angeles area. The Simpsons visited Militello in Buffalo several times. Their children played together.
Like millions of Americans, Militello watched his television set on the night of June 17, as Simpson held a gun to his head and, with former Bills teammate Al Cowlings at the wheel, led police on a 60-mile chase. It ended with Simpson's surrender at the Brentwood mansion.
"Just after O.J. surrendered and went into the house, I called the house," Militello said. "A detective picked up the phone. He wouldn't let me talk to O.J., but he told me he was OK."
Aside from his jailhouse visit July 17, Militello said he has spoken with Simpson several times on the telephone since the slayings.
"It's a terrible feeling," a still shaken Militello, 47, said during an interview last week. "I feel like one of my closest friends has been murdered, and another of my closest friends -- someone who is like a brother to me -- is charged with doing it. I keep waking up every morning hoping that the whole thing has just been a bad dream."
Militello said he was with Simpson when Simpson met Nicole Brown in 1977. She was then an 18-year-old waitress at The Daisy, a Beverly Hills restaurant that was popular with Hollywood actors and agents.
"She came up to our table -- this bright, smart and funny girl," Militello recalled. "She wasn't at all impressed by O.J. being a football star because she didn't follow sports. But they fell in love, almost immediately."
Nicole Simpson was "a beautiful woman with a wonderful sense of humor and a tremendously devoted mother," Militello said.
"Last week, I was at a dance recital for my kids, and I was sitting there with tears in my eyes, thinking about O.J. and Nicole, sitting at the dance recital for their kids on the night Nicole was murdered."
But for Militello, the Simpson case has become much more than a tragedy affecting two friends. Because of his closeness with Simpson and some remarks he made on a Buffalo television show on June 20, Militello has been swept into an Simpson drug controversy that put his name in news stories from New York City to Los Angeles.
Militello admitted on WKBW-TV's "AM-Buffalo" show that he and Simpson used cocaine in the 1970s. At one time, Militello said, more than 100 different news agencies -- ranging from the National Enquirer and "The Geraldo Rivera Show" to the New York Times and the ABC-TV "Nightline" show -- were trying to reach him for interviews on the drug issue.
"It got out of hand . . . I wish I had never gone on 'AM-Buffalo,' " Militello said last week. "All I was trying to say was that, in the '70s, we all experimented with cocaine. By 1979, O.J. was preaching against it (cocaine) stronger than anybody. I saw him help friends get through rehab programs, getting them off cocaine."
Militello, whose family now runs the Bijou Grille on Main Street, got to know Simpson in the early 1970s. At the time, Simpson and other pro athletes from Buffalo hung out at another bar then run by Militello, Mulligan's Cafe on Hertel Avenue.
Playing host to celebrities
Militello was considered by many the bachelor party king of Western New York. He played host to parties at the bar and in his posh home on Delaware Avenue. Friends say Militello has always loved basking in the spotlight of his friendship with Simpson and other celebrities.
"If there was a Studio 54 in Buffalo, Mulligan's was it," said Paul J. Cambria Jr., a Buffalo lawyer and longtime friend of Militello. "Mike played host to all the celebrities in Buffalo. If you were a big shot in Buffalo, if you wanted to be seen, you went to Mulligan's.
"Mike became good friends with many of these people, and in doing so, he became a celebrity himself."
Mulligan's was Buffalo's hottest hot spot during the disco era. Aside from pro athletes, its patrons included blue-collar workers, reporters, gangsters, politicians and singles from almost every walk of life.
Among the famous visitors who dined there were Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Liza Minnelli, Van Morrison, astronaut Alan Shephard and the Rolling Stones.
Militello was an impresario who ran extravagant parties to raise money for charities. At various times, he had famous people like actor Elliott Gould, blues singer Gregg Allman, Simpson, Bills lineman Reggie McKenzie and hockey star Danny Gare waiting on tables and mixing drinks at fund-raising "celebrity nights" at Mulligan's.
The drug scene
Eight police sources told The Buffalo News shortly after the Simpson case broke that they were familiar with investigations -- unsuccessful ones -- targeting drug involvement by Militello, Simpson and other pro athletes in Buffalo.
"O.J. Simpson and many of the Buffalo Bills and Sabres hung around in the nightclub," said the former employee, who spoke on the condition his name would not be used. "They would be escorted upstairs to Militello's private office where they were afforded safety and confidentiality. We were told to give them anything they want. Keep them happy and keep them drinking. They were Mike's personal clients. He would escort them into the back room."
Cocaine experimentation was a big part of the Buffalo night life in the 1970s, Militello said. But he denied being a cocaine supplier to Simpson or anyone else. He also denied hosting cocaine parties, either at his bar or his home.
"It's all part of the myth of Mike Militello," he said. "These stories that are floating around just aren't true."
Police said several investigations targeted Militello and Simpson, but neither man was ever arrested on drug charges.
State police and Buffalo police did raid Militello's home in April 1975, finding small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and two guns.
Casimir "Butch Casey" Sucharski, who was staying there at the time, said all the contraband was his. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and was fined $200 in City Court.
"I always felt we never got anywhere because Militello was so close with politicians and a lot of cops," said one investigator. "There were leaks about our investigations. He surrounded himself with very prominent people. He also hired cops to work as bodyguards or doormen at $15 an hour.
A former Buffalo narcotics investigator, however, said he never knew of anyone being pressured to stop investigating the Mulligan's drug scene.
"I do agree that Mike was wired, politically. But we were never told to stop the investigation," the detective said. "We looked into it for about six months. We had a lot of information but not enough to arrest anyone."
Rocco J. Diina, Buffalo's deputy police commissioner, said he heard allegations about drug trafficking at Mulligans for more than 20 years. But to his knowledge, police never confirmed the allegations about Militello, Simpson or other pro athletes using drugs at the bar.
Sucharski, the Militello house guest who was arrested in 1975, was murdered in Miramar, Fla., on June 26. Police say they see no connection between the execution-style murder and Sucharski's ties to Militello.
"Butch Casey (Sucharski) stayed in my house for one weekend in 1975, and that's when he got busted," Militello said. "I never was close with him, and I don't think I've seen him since then."
Injured war hero
The Simpson murder case has brought much anguish to Militello, but he has known harder times. Before he was 23 years old, he was shot three times in Vietnam. And he was one of 150 passengers on a jet hijacked to Cuba.
While on an Army jungle patrol near the Cambodia border in August 1968, Militello was ambushed by Viet Cong soldiers who shot him in both legs, and he was wounded by a grenade explosion. He nearly bled to death but was rescued by a helicopter. He awoke in a medical unit five days later and was initially told by doctors that both legs probably would have to be amputated.
Later that year, Militello was on leave, flying to Miami, when another passenger threatened to blow up the plane he was on, hijacking it to Havana.
"After going through all that, I was pretty much prepared for everything life had to give me," Militello said. "I've seen some of my closest friends bleed to death in Vietnam, so I'm dealing with O.J.'s situation like I've dealt with other things in my life."
Militello said Simpson has always been fascinated with his stories about fighting in the Vietnam War.
"That's why we became such close friends. He would come into the bar. He would tell me what it was like being an All-American football player at Southern California, and I would tell him what it was like crawling through the jungles and getting shot at while he was playing football," Militello said.
Militello said he now hopes and prays for the best for his friend. He said one reason he went to see Simpson last weekend was to talk about the possibility of being a character witness at Simpson's murder trial. He said he has suggested to Simpson that Cambria would be a good asset to Simpson's legal defense team.
Militello said he believes Simpson, in the end, will be found innocent.
"From what I hear about the evidence, I can't believe that there are 12 people in America who could sit as jurors in O.J.'s case and determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he is guilty," Militello said.
